Che
Che was an extremely entertaining film that offered both action and great insight into the Cuban revolution. The film did a great job at showing the varying kinds of people throughout Cuban society that helped bring about the revolution. From the highly educated people who crossed the ocean with Castro to the young boys who fought once the revolution had started, all walks of life participated in this revolution. It is apparent through the film that Cuba was full of poverty and all classes suffered in some form. The difference between the wealthy and impoverished is extreme and the film shows this difference very well.
The film did a great job at showing the revolutionary Che and how he participated in the Cuban revolution. His not being of Cuban origin had no negative effect on his leadership or drive, as he appeared to be a very powerful leader who also showed great moral fiber. He led by example and did not expect anything from his soldiers that he himself wouldn’t do. Che also fully believed in the rights of all Cuban citizens and would not allow his soldiers to participate in negative actions against society. The film shows this over multiple different scenes including the execution of two soldiers for rape and theft. At the end of the first half it shows soldiers stealing a brand new automobile from the rich of Cuban society. Che gets furious and demands the soldiers to return the car to its original owner. Mao was quoted at the beginning of the film, discussing the benefits of guerrilla warfare and using it to gain power through revolution. It is no different with the Cuban revolution and Che is quoted from the readings with “Lately it has been employed in various people’s wars of liberation when the vanguard of a people have chosen the road of irregular armed struggle against enemies of superior military power”. Bautista had the manpower and resources to easily hold power over Cuba, however the rebels led by Castro and Che used the various methods employed by using Guerrilla tactics in order to secure their revolution. These tactics allowed for a quicker revolution and one with much less tactics. Had they tried to fight in the open, using modern military tactics, the revolution would have probably resulted in failure.
Che shows the Cuban revolution through the eyes of the revolutionaries who brought it about. It shows that these men and women simply wanted a Cuba free of foreign domination. They did not want to be under the sphere of influence by the United States and wanted a Cuba for Cubans. It was interesting that the Cuban leaders also made it clear that they didn’t want to be under Soviet influence either. They were allying themselves with the communist nation merely so they would be able to stand up to the United States and her interests. Che is quoted through the readings as saying “U.S. imperialism is guilty of aggression-its crimes are enormous and cover the whole world”. He was discussing this in regards to the Vietnam War, however it shows perfectly the view the Cuban people had of the American government. As the film mentions, it was not the American people that Cubans hated, but the American government. After the success of the Cuban revolution, Cuba could finally make her own way through world history. While it would ally with the Soviet Union, it had much more to say about its history than ever before.